A Treatise on Political Economy by Antonie Louis Claude Destutt de Tracy (1754-1836) is a foundational text of nineteenth-century, free-market economic thought and remains one of the classics of nineteenth-century French economic liberalism. Destutt de Tracy was one of the founders of the classical liberal republican group known as the Idéologues, which included Benjamin Constant, Jean-Baptiste Say, Marquis de Condorcet, and Madame de Staël.
In this volume, Destutt de Tracy provides one of the clearest statements of the economic principles of the Idéologues. Breaking with the physiocratic orthodoxy of the eighteenth century, Destutt de Tracy denies that land is the source of all productive labor and focuses his attention upon manufacturing and manufacturers as the producers of utility and, therefore, of value and of wealth. Placing the entrepreneur at the center of his view of economic activty, he argues against luxurious consumption of the idle rich and recommends a market economy with low taxation and minimum state intervention.
Destutt de Tracy sent the text of A Treatise on Political Economy to Thomas Jefferson in hopes of securing its translation in the United States. It was met with enthusiastic approval. Jefferson wrote to the publisher, "The merit of this work will, I hope, place it in the hands of every reader in our country."
Jeremy Jennings is Professor of Political Theory at Queen Mary, University of London. Introduction to the Liberty Fund Edition ix Note on the Text xxi v1 'Treatise on Political Economy Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Joseph Milligan Prospectus, by Thomas Jefferson Advertisement Abstract, or Analytical Table Supplement to the First Section of the Elements of Ideology Introduction to the Second Section of the Elements of Ideology, or a Treatise on the Will and Its Effects First Part of the Treatise on the Will and Its Effects: Of Our Actions Chapter 1 : Of Society Chapter 2 : Of Production, or of the Formation of Our Riches Chapter 3 : Of the Measure of Utility or of Values Chapter 4 : Of the Change of Form, or of Manufacturing Chapter 5 : Of the Change of Place, or of Commercial Industry Chapter 6 : Of Money Chapter 7 : Reflections on What Precedes Chapter 8 : Of the Distribution of Our Riches amongst Individuals Chapter 9 : Of the Multiplication of Individuals, or of Population Chapter 10 : Consequences and Developments of the Chapter 1 1 : Of the Employment of Our Riches, or of Consumption Chapter 12 : Of the Revenues and Expenses of a Chapter 13 : Conclusion Index
3
5
9
13
31
53
93
103
108
Industry, Comprising Agriculture
113
133
139
160
163
170
Two Preceding Chapters
176
197
Government, and of Its Debts
217
252
257
Piensa y Hazte Rico
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